Home

Nostochopsis

Generic name: NOSTOCHOPSIS Wood ex Bornet et Flahault 1886. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., ser. 7, 5: 80. [NOSTOCHOPSIS Wood, Podromus of a Study of the freshwater Algae of eastern North-Amaerica (Proceeding of the American Philosophical Society held to Philadelphia, p. 126, 1869).
Synonyms: MAZAEA Bornet et Grunow 1881. Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. 33: 287.
Diagnosis:
Bornet et Flahault (1886): Frons gelatinosa, defnita. Trichomata unica serie cellularum formata, ramosa. Heterocystae intercalares et laterales, pedicellatae vel sessiles. Planta aquatica, Rivulariis cavis subsimilis.
Type species: Nostochopsis lobata Wood ex Bornet et Flahault 1886. - Several species described, from which only the type-species is well known and repeatedly investigated.
Descriptions:
Komárek (1992): Thallous; thallus attached to the substrate, gelatinous, irregularly subspherical, spherical or lobate, with more or less smooth, mucilaginous surface, solid or hollow in the centre, up to 3.5 cm in diameter, bluish, olive-green or yellow-green. Common mucilage usually homogeneous, colourless or yellowish-brown. Filaments oriented indside of colony more or less radially, commonly branched, slightly coiled, with fine, gelatinous, diffluent (mainly in marginal parts), colourless or yellow-brown sheaths. Trichomes always uniserial, composed from isodiametrical, barrel-shaped or elongated (up to twice longer than wide), ellipsoidal, blue green
cells. Branching true, lateral (T- or v-type); branches long, many-celled, cylindrical, terminated by slightly narrowed or widened, rounded apical cells; or very short, cylindrical (l-several-celled) branches, terminated by heterocytes. Heterocytes intercalar (bipored), lateral (unipored) o terminal (unipored). Akinetes not known.
Genotype differences, molecular data:
Reproduction strategies, life cycles, cell division:
Komárek (1992): Cells divide crosswise, sometimes in meristematic (mainly apical) zones. Reproduction mainly by hormogonia with short barrel-shaped cells; hormogonia germinate bipolar.
Ultrastructure:
Taxonomic position, higher hierarchy: Cyanophyceae, Stigonematales, Nostochopsaceae
Notes to taxonomy, misinterpretations:
Ecology, ecophysiology, ecological significance:
Komárek (1992):Freshwater; all species grow attached (old colonies later sometimes free floating) to mosses, atones and submersed wood in not polluted creeks and streams, known over the whole tropical zone (one variable species or several taxa ?). Rarely found also in temperate zone, sometimes from stagnant pools (different species ?).
Physiology and biochemistry:
Distribution, endemism, problematic citations:
Reference strain:
Infrageneric scheme, species
concept:

List of species:
Nostochopsis hansgirgii Schmidle 1900
Nostochopsis lobata Wood ex Bornet et Flahault 1886. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., ser. 7, 5: 80
Nostochopsis radians Bharadwaja 1934
Nostochopsis transvaalensis Welsh 1961
Nostochopsis wichmannii Weber van Bosse 1913

Unclear taxa:
Nostochopsis hansgirgii var. sphaerica Gardner 1927
Nostochopsis lobata Wood ex Geilter 1932
Nostochopsis lobata sensu Maldonado 1986
Nostochopsis lobata sensu Palmer 1942
Nostochopsis lobata sensu Starmach 1985

Keys:
List of stains:
Drawings:
Komárek 1992
Application technology:
Literature:
  2.1 taxonomy: Bornet & Flahau1t 1886, Geitler 1932, Geitler 1942, Desikachary 1955, Komárek 1992
  2.2 cytomorphology:
  2.3 16S rRNA sequencing:
  2.4 biology and life cycles:
  2.5 ecology: